ANDRE BYIK — DAILY NEWS
Corning High basketball player Michael Shoemaker (right), who was named the 2013-14 Daily News Male Athlete of the Winter Season, attempts a shot against Encina Prep in March at Corning High.

Michael Shoemaker, the 6-foot-7 Corning High School basketball star, is easy to take for granted.

The senior forward, who was named the 2013-14 Daily News Male Athlete of the Winter Season, dressed for the school's venerable varsity squad for the last three years and led the Cardinals to back-to-back Northern Section CIF Division IV championships. In those three years he's steadily improved his stat totals in points per game and rebounds per game, leading the section last season in both categories with 19.2 and 11.7, respectively.

Perhaps more impressive than those stats, however, is how he achieved them. Shoemaker finished his final high school season shooting 56 percent from the field, which also was good enough to top the section.

On the defensive end, the senior's height and long arms forced opposing guards and post players to think twice about driving to the basket. It seemed at least once per game Shoemaker would connect with a crowd-pleasing block, which sometimes sent the ball into a teammate's arms, and sometimes was snatched out of the air by Shoemaker himself.

In his wins, Shoemaker was quick to acknowledge the play of his teammates, and when the Cardinals suit up again later this year, he'll quickly be missed.

The Cards bulldozed their way through the 2013-14 season. Shoemaker and the Cardinals captured a Northern Athletic League title after earning an undefeated 8-0 league record, and finished the year with an overall record of 24-5.

In Corning's four postseason games, Shoemaker averaged almost 16 points per game, which led his team, and tallied 19 points and 13 rebounds in the Cards' 60-57 state playoff loss against Encina Prep.

It should be noted that while Shoemaker's play could almost be regarded as a mathematical constant, he also was surrounded with players that grew with him.

Nick Hoag, listed at 6-3, 215 pounds and also a three-year varsity player, averaged about 12 points and eight rebounds last season. Chayce Maday, a 5-10 senior guard, steadily increased his point totals over the last three years, and averaged about eight points last season. Maday and Hoag, in Corning's 56-49 section championship win over Gridley at Chico State in March, scored 21 and 15 points, respectively. Shoemaker followed with 12 points on 50-percent shooting, and nabbed nine rebounds in the process.

The Cards, under the direction of longtime Corning coach Bill Mache, were a disciplined and selfless team. The coaching staff often went along with what was working, and Shoemaker, with his cool, measured and methodical play, was always ready to go to work.